Clothes-rack.



.R B MEEK.

CLOTHES RACK. APPLICATION FILED APR. 20, 1909.

Patented Feb. 8, 1910.

in/wanton .umrnn STATES PAT NT orric.

B B MEEK, OF KEOKUK, IOWA.

CLOTHES-RACK.

9&8593.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, R B MEEK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Keokuk, in the county of Lee and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Clothes-Rack, of which the following is a specification.

The objects of the invention are, generally, the provision in a merchantable form of a device of the class described which shall be inexpensive to manufacture, facile in Opera tion and devoid of complicated parts; specifically, the provision of a clothes rack adapted to be swung in a horizontal plane,

and to be moved vertically, gravity-operated means being provided normally acting to limit the vertical movement of the clothes rack without interfering materially with its horizontal movement; other and further objects being made manifest hereinafter as the description of the invention progresses.

The invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, delineated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in that portion of this instrument where in patentable novelty is claimed for certain distinctive and peculiar features of the device, it being understood that within the scope of what hereinafter is thus claimed, divers changes in the form, proportions, size and minor details of the structure may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to denote corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows my invention in perspective assembled with the casing of a window; Fig. 2 is a de tail of the invention in side elevation adapted to illustrate the means whereby the rack bars are maintained in a horizontal position; and Fig. 3 is a detail perspective of the cam lever.

The includes other invention among things, a supporting element which in the present instance takes the form of a window casing, the same being denoted by the numeral 1. Mounted upon the supporting element are spaced brackets 2, the same being provided with parallel, outwardly projecting arms, having vertically alined apertures adapted to receive a pivot member 8.

The numeral 4 denotes arms adapted to Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 20, 1909.

Patented Feb. 8, 1910.

Serial No. 490,994.

extend in vertical alinement, horizontally outer extremities being bent to engage rigidly a standard 5.

An upright 6 is provided, which is markedly shorter than the standard 5, the said upright 6 being provided upon its inner face with transversely disposed clips 7 the extremities of which are rigidly assembled with the upright, the said clips intermediate their ends being bent to engage the standard 5, whereby the upright 6 will be at once mounted for vertical sliding movement on the standard 5, and for horizontal rotary movement thereon.

The upright 6 is provided with clothes racks of which there may be any number. In the present instance I have provided two of them and one will be described, it being understood that the other is a duplicate of the one described, so that a description of one will stand for a description of both.

A pair of horseshoe plates 8 and 9 are provided, the lower plate 9 at its inner end being provided with depending ears 10 adapted to engage the edges of the upright 6. These ears 10 are provided with transversely alined apertures adapted to receive a pintle 11, whereby the said plates may be pivotally assembled with the upright 6, for movement in the direction of the length thereof. Between the plates 8 and 9, are introduced the inner ends of rack bars 20, pintles 28 terminally mounted in the plates 8 and 9 serving not only to assemble the said plates 8 and 9 with each other, but as well to form a pivotal mounting for the ends of the rack bars 20. These rack bars 20 as shown in Fig. 1, may be separated from each other in the usual manner when it is desired to hang garments upon them, and they may likewise be assembled in compact form when not in use, as shown in the lower portion of Fig. 1. The lower plate 9 is provided upon its lower surface, with a pair of spaced lugs 12 adapted to receive pivotally, the upper extremities of a U-shaped brace 14. Mounted upon the outer face of the upright 6, below the plates 8 and 9, is a shoulder 15 which is adapted to receive the lower extremity of the U-shaped brace 14, to hold the clothes rack in a horizontal position. In order to secure the engagement between the lower extremity of the brace 14: and the shoulder 15, when the clothes rack is uptilted from the position shown in the lower part of Fig. 1 to the position shown in the upper part of the said figure, a resilient tongue 16 is provided the upper end of which is inbent as denoted by the numeral 17 to engage the outer face of the upright 6. This resilient tongue 16 extends downward between the arms of the U- shaped brace 14, across the forward face of the shoulder15, to a point well below the said shoulder. The resilient tongue 16 is straddled at its upper end by a staple 18 which serves to maintain the said tongue in rigid connection with the upright 6. A similar staple 19 straddles the free end of the resilient tongue 16 below the shoulder 15 the latter staple serving to restrain the outward movement of the resilient tongue and to hold it in a position operative at all times to exercise its function.

The upright 6 as hereinbefore stated is slidably mounted upon the standard 5 for vertical movement, and pivotally mounted thereon for horizontal movement. After the said upright 6, and the garment support ing elements which it carries, have been adjusted vertically to the proper height it frequently becomes necessary to move the said upright 6 horizontally upon the standard without aifecting its vertical adjustment, an operation called for, for instance, when it is desired to swing one after another of the rack bars 20 within the reach of the operator, in order that clothing or other objects may be mounted thereon. With this end in view, I have provided a cam lever 21 one end of which is inserted through an opening in the lower portion of the upright 6, a pin tle 22 being transversely passed through the upright 6 and through an aperture 26 in one end of the said cam lever 21, to form a pivotal mounting therefor. The lever 21 is provided at its extremities with heads 23 and 24, the head 23 being provided with teeth 25, adaptedto engage the standard 5, when the said cam lever is in the position shown in Fig. 1, and to be free from contact with the said standard, when the cam lever is uplifted. These teeth 25 are disposed transversely of the of the standard 5 upon which the upright 6 is mounted, and it will therefore be seen, that although the said teeth are operative to limit the vertical, sliding movement of the upright 6 upon the standard 5, they do not materially interfere with the horizontal, rotary movement, of the said upright 6 upon the standard. The center of gravity of the cam lever 21, lies beyond the pivotal mounting between the cam lever and the upright 6, and it is therefore obvious that the weight of the cam lever will at all times tend to hold the teeth 25 in engagement with the standard 5. In order, however, to insure the speedy operation of the cam lever 21 under the action of gravity,

said cam lever is provided at its outer, or free extremity, with the enlarged portion, or head 24 hereinbefore mentioned.

If desired, the upright 6 may be provided adjacent its lower extremity with a laterally extending handle 27 whereby the upright 6 and the clothes supporting elements which it carries may be rotated horizontally upon the standard 5.

In practical operation, supposing the rack bars 20 to be in the position shown in the lower part of Fig. l, thesaid rack bars may be raised into a horizontal position. As the rack bars 20 are thus raised, the free end of the brace 14 moving upward will engage the shoulder 15 holding the said rack bars in a horizontal position. The rack bars may then be separated at their free, or outer, ends, the device in such case assuming the position shown in the upper part of Fig. 1. The resilient tongue 16, bearing against the outer face of the shoulder 15, and engaging the brace 11, will serve to hold the lower, or free end of the said brace normally against the upright 6, so that, when the said free end of the brace let passes above the shoulder 15, it will normally drop into supporting engagement therewith, under the weight of the projecting rack bars 20. lNhen it is desired to adjust vertically, the position of the upright 6 on the rack bar 20 upon the standard 5, upward pressure may be exerted upon the cam 21, freeing the teeth 25 from the standard 5, whereupon the said upright 6 and the elements which are assembled with it, may be lifted. hen the cam lever 21 is released, it will of its own weight drop into the position shown in Fig. 1, whereby the upright 6 will be held in the predetermined position upon the standard 5. The hereinbefore described manipulation of the cam lever 21 will secure the most positive and satisfactory results. However, it is not absolutely necessary that the outer extremity of the cam lever be raised when it is desired to move the upright 6 vertically upon the standard 5. Ordinarily, when the upright 6 is grasped and an upward pull exerted thereon, the toothed head 23 will move out of engagement with the standard 5, permitting the upright 6 to be lifted readily. As soon as the upward movement of the upright 6 is discontinued, the cam lever, of its own weight will drop into the protruding position shown in Fig. 1, whereby the upright 6 will be firmly held in position. lVhen the vertical adjustment of the upright 6 upon the standard 5 has been completed, the said upright 6 may be rotated to cause the rack bars 20 to move in a horizontal plane, the teeth 25 of the cam lever in such case engaging the standard 5 to prevent the upright and the rack bars from sliding downward, without, however, in-

tertering materially with the horizontal, rotary movement of the rack bars and the upright upon the standard.

Presupposing that the device is mounted upon a window casing as shown in the appended drawings, after the clothes have been hung up on the rack bars 20 the entire device may be revolved about the supporting element, to bring the rack bars into protrusion through the open window and into the open air. In case of inclement weather, an entire washing may by a single movement be swung from a position without a building, to a position within and beneath the shelter of the same.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A device of the class described comprising a standard; an upright slidably and rotatably mounted upon the standard; a clothes rack carried by the upright; gravity operated means carried by the upright and normally contacting under its own weight, with the standard, to limit the sliding movement only of the upright.

2. A device of the class described comprising a standard; an upright slidably and rotatably mounted upon the standard; a clothes rack assembled with the upright; a cam lever fulcrumed in the upright and normally engaging, under its own Weight,

the standard, to limit the sliding movement only of the upright.

3. A device of the class described comprising a standard; an upright slidably and rotatably mounted upon the standard; a clothes rack assembled with the upright; a cam lever fulcrumed in the upright and provided with teeth disposed transversely of the axis of the standard, and normally engaging under the weight of the cam lever, the standard, to limit the sliding movement only of the upright.

4. A device of the class described comprising spaced arms; means for pivotally assembling the arms at one end with a support; a standard uniting the other ends of the arms; an upright slidably and rotatably mounted upon the standard; a clothes rack pivoted to the upright for movement in the direction of the length thereof; and gravityoperated means carried by the upright and normally engaging the standard, to limit the sliding movement of the upright upon the standard.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

R B MEEK.

\Vitnesses LOUISE B. FIELD, GEO. A. BRINKMAN. 

